Phase One unveils IQ280, IQ260 and IQ260 Achromatic digital backs

Phase One has unveiled the Wi-Fi enabled IQ260, IQ260 Achromatic and IQ280 medium format digital camera backs. The 60MP IQ260 and IQ260 Achromatic feature maximum shutter speeds of 1/10,000th of a second. The IQ260 Achromatic is a black-and-white version, with no color and IR filter. The cameras’ wireless capabilities allow users to remotely capture and view images from iOS devices. All three backs feature 3.2″ multi-touch rear screens with 1.15m dot resolution, and built-in accelerometers. They will be available from June 2013 at suggested retail prices starting from €29,990 /$39,990.

COPENHAGEN, March 4, 2013:  Phase One, the worlds leader in open-platform, medium format camera systems and solutions, today announced the Phase One IQ2 series: three new full-frame 645 format digital camera backs with high-speed wireless connectivity and 13 f-stops of dynamic range, plus new options to meet specific photographic goals. Building on the IQ digital back platform, the first choice of many of the worlds leading photographers, the technical advances in the Phase One IQ280, IQ260 and IQ260 Achromatic go beyond delivering ultra-high megapixel resolution to introduce greater mobility and workflow flexibility for professional photographers.

Instead of trying to make our wireless connection a replacement for a wired file transfer, as others have done, our solution focuses on helping get the right image capture — whether that means perfecting composition or focus, or simply easing the challenges of capturing a hard-to-reach image from a remote location, said Jan H. Christiansen, marketing director, Phase One.

All IQ2 camera backs feature full-frame 645 format sensors designed collaboratively by Phase One and Teledyne Dalsa to deliver the worlds best image quality. In addition, Phase One IQ2 camera backs deliver a full 13 f-stops of dynamic range, which combined with meticulous calibration and careful hardware and software optimization ensures that the image quality is matched by no other camera.

The 80 megapixel IQ280 puts Wi-Fi in a new perspective, enabling remote image capture and viewing of huge 80 megapixel images on an iPad running Phase Ones Capture Pilot App. It represents the pinnacle of image quality. With an ISO as low as 35, no other camera or digital back can get better silk-like images.

The 60 megapixel IQ260 offers unparalleled capture versatility, with exposure ranges from 1/10000s to one hour with virtually noise-free images. The 60 megapixel sensor at the heart of the IQ260 is a unique 645 format full-frame device found only in this digital back. It offers the widest exposure range opportunities on the market coupled with phenomenal image quality. And both the IQ280 and IQ260 capture raw images at 16-bit color depth per channel, enabling reproduction of scenes with ultra-smooth transitions.

The Phase One IQ260 Achromatic is a dedicated image capture device designed to deliver the highest-quality pure black and white images. It fully shares the IQ2 series unplugged assets. At the core of this system is a 60-megapixel sensor with no color filter array mounted, which means that no interpolation is necessary. Each and every pixel of the sensor is focused purely on capturing the finest details of an image. This digital back comes with no mounted IR cut-off filter, and the IQ260 Achromatic is capable of capturing image in three light spectrums: infrared, visible and ultraviolet — permitting photographers to experiment with a wide range of their choice of filters to create unique images for artistic and scientific purposes.

Capture Made EasyAll IQ2 backs include built-in accelerometers, whose input helps align images perfectly at the moment of capture. An intuitive virtual horizon offers a precise visual indication of an images roll and pitch; that data is automatically stored with the images and can be automatically corrected in Capture One software after import.

Rugged BuildIQ2 digital backs combine functional design with rugged build quality. Built of 100 percent aircraft grade aluminum, all electronic connectors and ports are protected with automatic retracting hatches or rubber covers to ensure that they work continuously even in the toughest shooting environments.

Capture One 7 SoftwareCapture One 7 is built on the world’s best raw processing engine and is included with all IQ2 backs, providing highly responsive precision tools to capture, organize, view, edit, share and print images for an efficient workflow and superior image quality results.

Availability and Pricing

The Phase One IQ2 series camera backs are expected to be available in June 2013; they may be ordered now through Phase One professional photography partners worldwide: www.phaseone.com/partners For a complete list of all the new Phase One IQ digital back features, including supported camera bodies, please see www.phaseone.com/iq2

Prices start at 29990 EUR / 39990 USD. Attractive upgrade offers are available for all existing Phase One photographers. For a demo of these new products, please sign up here: www.phaseone.com/demo

Comments

Sensors are priced exponentially based on area though due to the odds of defects increasing w/sensor area, so hopefully an FX sized equivalent would only cost $2K or so. Personally I would still rather have a bare-bones FX cam w/the form factor of an old SLR but a legacy mount for <$1000.

If you dont understand the price, then you dont need it. Other people do, and for them the price is right. And for them an FX system is clearly not enough for their needs.

costs almost nothingextremely inexpensivebetter – utter nonsense

Well lets see if they have can beat the D800. It would be nice to see MF above FF again. If not then whats the point.

I hope the MF makers have stepped up their game! I would hate to see MF ghost.

How did the D800 beat MF? Yes the D800 and D800E are on the top of DXO but those tests cover a very wide range of photography. MF cameras are intended for resolution critical deliberate shooting – landscape and studio work almost exclusively. I love my D800 but I carry no delusions that it will rival a well lit studio shot on an IQ180.

Super, except the price.

LOL, yeah right, a 40k camera’s first mentioned feature is the iOS capabilities.

What’s next on CrApple’s list? A Boeing 747 with iOS remote control?

Can we see the list of latest donations to DPR? I wonder if Apple is the first or the only one on the list?

Tethering is a key tool in high end marketing/fashion shoots and Apple products tend to be the first choice for people working in creative disciplines.

I know that a lot of new cameras are touting wi-fi features that are for the most part cute toys. Here though it is intended as a legitimate tool.

I took a tour of a Gulfstream jet the other day and yep – two iPads in the cockpit.

I guess they didn’t think they needed NFC support to allow making the WiFi connection just require tapping the tablet against the camera, ‘cuase then Android would be a shoe-in.

Considering where these cameras are used (low ISO, in fact their sensor ISOs are very low), I wonder what is the benefit of having such low minimum shutter speed.

It has a shutter speed of 1 hour available as well. Most consumer cameras don’t go past 30 seconds without using some kind of attachment, and many of those will enforce long shutter speed noise reduction (not sure what this one does).

Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with Nikon DSLR equipment. I do unpaid TFP and paid work.